HR: 0800h
AN: T51C-0676 [Abstracts]
TI: Core Across the San Andreas Fault at SAFOD - Photographs, Physical Properties Data, and Core-Handling Procedures
AU: * Kirschner, D L
EM: dkirschn@gmail.com
AF: Saint Louis University, Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis, MO 63103,
United States
AU: Carpenter, B
EM: bcarpenter@geosc.psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, Dept. of Geosciences, University Park, PA 16802, United
States
AU: Keenan, T
EM: keenante@gmail.com
AF: Saint Louis University, Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis, MO 63103,
United States
AU: Sandusky, E
EM: ecsandusky@gmail.com
AF: Saint Louis University, Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis, MO 63103,
United States
AU: Sone, H
EM: hsone@pangea.stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Dept. of Geophysics, Stanford, CA 94305,
AU: Ellsworth, B
EM: ellsworth@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Hickman, S
EM: hickman@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Weiland, C
EM: cweiland@pangea.stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Dept. of Geophysics, Stanford, CA 94305,
AU: Zoback, M
EM: zoback@pangea.stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Dept. of Geophysics, Stanford, CA 94305,
AB:
Core samples were obtained that cross three faults of the San Andreas Fault Zone north of Parkfield, California,
during the summer of 2007. The cored intervals were obtained by sidetracking off the SAFOD Main Hole that was
rotary drilled across the San Andreas in 2005. The first cored interval targeted the pronounced lithologic boundary
between the Salinian terrane and the Great Valley and Franciscan formations. Eleven meters of pebbly
conglomerate (with minor amounts of fine sands and shale) were obtained from 3141 to 3152 m (measured
depth, MD). The two conglomerate units are heavily fractured with many fractures having accommodated
displacement. Within this cored interval, there is a ~1m zone with highly sheared, fine-grained material, possibly
ultracataclasite in part. The second cored interval crosses a creeping segment of a fault that has been deforming
the cemented casing of the adjacent Main Hole. This cored interval sampled the fault 100 m above a
seismogenic patch of M2 repeating earthquakes. Thirteen meters of core were obtained across this fault from
3186 to 3199 m (MD). This fault, which is hosted primarily in siltstones and shales, contains a serpentinite body
embedded in a highly sheared shale and serpentinite-bearing fault gouge unit. The third cored interval crosses a
second creeping fault that has also been deforming the cemented casing of the Main Hole. This fault, which is
the most rapidly shearing fault in the San Andreas fault zone based on casing deformation, contains multiple fine-
grained clay-rich fault strands embedded in highly sheared shales and lesser deformed sandstones.
Initial processing of the cores was carried out at the drill site. Each core came to the surface in 9 meter-long
aluminum core barrels. These were cut into more manageable three-foot sections. The quarter-inch-thick
aluminum liner of each section was cut and then split apart to reveal the 10 cm diameter cores. Depending on
the fragility and porosity of the rock, the drilling fluid was removed either by washing with dilute calcium chloride
brine (to approximately match the salinity of the formation fluids) or by gently scraping away drilling mud on the
core surface. Once cleaned, each core section was photographed to very high resolution on a Geotek Multi-
Sensor Core Logging (MSCL) system. This system was also used to determine the bulk density and magnetic
susceptibility of each section. The 25 MB high-resolution photographs and the raw and processed physical
properties data were then uploaded to the ICDP web server in Potsdam for public access (http://safod.icdp-
online.org). The cores will be archived at the Gulf Coast Repository of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program in
College Station, TX.
The MSCL photographs, physical property measurements, and other related data, such as geophysical logs, will
be integrated using CoreWall, and will be on display at the meeting. All samples, data, and imagery are available
to the science community.
DE: 7200 SEISMOLOGY
DE: 7205 Continental crust (1219)
DE: 7250 Transform faults
DE: 8100 TECTONOPHYSICS
DE: 8111 Continental tectonics: strike-slip and transform
SC: Tectonophysics [T]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting